


I'll Be Seeing You

by secretfeanorian



Series: made of starlight [12]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings Online
Genre: F/M, possible future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-16
Updated: 2016-11-16
Packaged: 2018-08-31 10:24:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,554
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8574697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretfeanorian/pseuds/secretfeanorian
Summary: In the distance, birds are singing.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so, I broke my own rule of not writing anything that doesn't yet exist in the game's canon (which mostly exists because I still don't know if Lothrandir's going to have a last minute, horrible death at the Black Gate and while I refuse to accept that possibility, I'm trying to stick to game canon in this series).
> 
> My only excuse is this past week's been super shitty and I'm completely terrified of what the future will bring and I wanted to write something hopeful.

_This is the ending. Now not day only shall be beloved, but night too shall be beautiful and blessed and all its fear pass away.  
_

* * *

In the distance, there are birds chirping. Wind rustles through treetops and somewhere nearby a dog is barking. Rawlind jolts to awareness. Her eyelids are heavy with sleep and a few moments pass before they open. When they do, she finds herself sitting on a rock, looking up at the sky through yellowing leaves. There is a slight nip in the air, a faint signal that winter is approaching, but she doesn’t feel the cold. She blinks four times in quick succession, then reaches up and rubs her eyes. When this fails to shake away the sleepiness, she resorts to shaking her head and this, finally, does the trick. She feels herself beginning to regain clarity.  
  
Thus woken, Rawlind looks around where she is situated. Her brow furrows in confusion. “Where in the blazes…” She draws off, eyes flicking back and forth. Her calm has yet to dispel, as she reaches for the dagger she keeps strapped to her belt. It is only when she finds it missing, that her heartbeat speeds up. The mounting panic remains internal, however, and she steadily gets to her feet, scanning the ground for any potential weapons.  
  
From somewhere on the edge of the clearing, a stick snaps and she spins around to face the direction of the noise. “Hello?” She calls, then immediately berates herself for speaking up.  
  
No response is forthcoming, but Rawlind notices that the birds in the distance haven’t fallen silent. The dog’s barking has ceased however and she finds her eyes sliding towards the direction she thinks that noise had been coming from. As she does so, her attention turns from the original spot she had been watching and so she doesn’t notice the man coming out of the trees until he stands only a few steps away from her.  
  
When she finally does him, her eyes shot wide with shock and she takes an involuntary half step back. Then, a smile spreads across her face. The smile is matched on the face on front of her and Candaith pushes back his hood.  
  
“Did I not tell you it would all be fine?” He says, the smile echoing in his voice.  
  
Rawlind chuckles briefly, then replies with “You sounded _so_ sure when we last parted ways.”  
  
His eyes narrow at the sarcasm in her tone, but the smile remains a fixed feature on his face. On Rawlind’s face though, the smile drops and it follows on Candaith’s face as worry creeps onto his face. Instead of speaking, he simply waits and soon, Rawlind opens her mouth.  
  
“So many had to die for us to reach this ending though.” She is pointedly looking everywhere but Candaith’s face and the ranger sighs; an overpowering sound that seems to fill up the clearing and it seems to Rawlind that even the distant birds go quiet for a few moments before returning to their songs.  
  
“Yes,” he whispers into that quiet and when Rawlind dares to again look at him, he is staring at the ground. She bites her lip and glances down where his gaze is pointing.  
  
“But ever have great victories required great sacrifice,” She whispers back. Her voice shakes and she is trying to convince herself that such a fact makes the reality easier to bear just as much as she is Candaith.  
  
_For better or for ill; the future has come,_ she hears in her mind and the thought feels foreign somehow, as if it hadn’t come from her, but she finds herself agreeing nonetheless.  
  
From the other side of the clearing, the barking picks up again, and she and Candaith look over to a black war hound sitting in the grass. Rawlind’s face lights up in recognition and Ebony stands and comes loping over.  
  
Rawlind runs a hand through his fur and feels tears welling up. The wolf’s death on the Pelennor Fields had cut her deeply and even though it had been several months ago, she has still felt his loss keenly.  
  
Ebony endures the petting a while longer, then abruptly flops on top of her feet. Another laugh is pushed out of Rawlind and this one lasts for a good minute before subsiding. When she looks over at Candaith, he is grinning. Her eyes narrow in faux annoyance, but the attempt is half-hearted at best and she abandons it soon after.  
  
“I do not know this one,” He says once she has given up the pretense.  
  
Rawlind’s smile turns sad for a moment, before reverting back. “Candaith; Ebony. Ebony; Candaith.” The hulking dog lifts his head from the ground where he had been avidly bug-watching and barks in response to his name. Once he seems to have confirmed Rawlind doesn’t need him to do something, his head drops again and he returns to following the movements of the insects in the grass.  
  
Watching him, Candaith chuckles, and Rawlind sighs. His eyes return to her and hers go distant briefly. “I got him in Rohan; after you died.” She says bluntly and the simple statement speaks volumes, and though a deep sadness lingers on his face, Candaith smiles. “He was slain on the Pelennor,” She adds. The sentence is strained somewhat, not quite achieving the same detached aura of the previous, but there is ultimately little grief evident in her tone.  
  
Candaith glances at her face, but her eyes are once again staring off into the distance. Instead of breaking through her thoughts, he crouches down by her feet and meets Ebony’s eyes. The two watch each other closely for a minute or two while Rawlind regains her composure. When she does, a long sigh escapes her lips and then she looks at Candaith and says, “When we…spoke last…” Here she cuts off; unsure how to continue. She chews her bottom lip for a second, then presses on, “you seemed rather…uncertain…” She stops again and does not continue.  
  
“The future is never certain, and always hazy,” Candaith says after several moments of this silence. “Doubt ever gnaws at the heart. Surely that cannot have escaped you.” His voice tilts to a teasing tone.  
  
A strange laugh bubbles out of Rawlind’s chest. Nestled within it is all the fear and hate and bitterness that had accosted her for the many long and sleepless nights following her introduction to this life. “Gnaws is a rather tame word for all that worry.” She mutters under her breath and Candaith lets out a rush of air in seeming agreement.  
  
“Perhaps it is, but it sounds less poetic that way.” Rawlind snorts, disbelief painting the sound and, sensing a foul mood brewing, Candaith elbows her in the side. “We have established that this is a dream, correct?”  
  
Rawlind meets Candaith’s eyes, face twisted into incredulousness and one eyebrow raised, “I am fairly certain I established that the moment I saw you.” She says, slight confusion coloring her voice.  
  
“That I am only a figment of your sleeping mind and therefore am a projection of your subconscious?” He presses on and now Rawlind’s eyes narrow, suspicion mounting.  
  
“Yesss…” She replies, “I am aware of what the statement “This is only a dream” implies…” Suddenly, something seems to dawn on her and she groans, long and loud. Candaith starts to laugh and she shoves him. “Fine, tease away!” She crosses her arms and ignores the heat gathering on her cheeks.  
  
To her surprise, Candaith just shakes his head. “I do not think I have the heart to mock you for that happiness,” He confesses with a grin. “You and Lothrandir deserve it.”  
  
The blush on Rawlind’s face deepens, but she nods in agreement. “He absolutely deserves to be happy after what Saruman put him through!” Her tone is forceful and Candaith holds his hands up in faux surrender.  
  
“You do not need to tell me that!” He says with a brief laugh and Rawlind clears her throat sharply; embarrassed. “And you deserve all the happiness the world can give you as well, Rawlind.” Candaith chides and her eyes shoot up.  
  
“No shit,” She mutters, then blushes even more, and looks down. When she does so, she notices Ebony has vanished. She spins around in a circle, calling for him, but there is no response. When she looks back at Candaith, his face is grim.  
  
“I think you are waking up, Rawlind.”  
  
The birds have fallen silent and she can’t hear the wind anymore. For a moment, grief rises up and threatens to choke her, but once the moment passes, it subsides. She reaches her hand out and Candaith takes it. They stand there for a minute, holding hands and not saying anything, and then he drops her hand. “Goodbye Rawlind.” The sadness is gone from his voice and Rawlind thinks that maybe that should feel wrong, but instead it just slots into place and the returned “Goodbye Candaith,” is equally hopeful.  
  
In an instant, the forest and Candaith vanish and she finds herself in a bed. There is a warm body lying next to her and birdsong in the distance. It takes a minute, but a smile makes its way onto Rawlind’s face. She curls around Lothrandir and closes her eyes.


End file.
